This invention relates generally to golf clubs, and more particularly concerns improvements in heads having a bottom keel configuration.
When impact loads are transmitted to such metallic sole plates, the loads are typically transmitted to the wooden heads at points adjacent the plates. Where head laminations extend parallel to the plate, the load is transmitted to the few laminations adjacent the edges of the plate, and a tendency to destructive delamination can occur, particularly when a relatively immovable object such as a concealed rock is inadvertently struck. This problem is aggravated in that type of club disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,761,095, wherein the sole plate carries a downwardly projecting keel which is more likely to strike objects concealed in the turf or ground. The attachment of such sole plates to the laminations as by screws is not an answer to the problem, since the edges of the threads form cracks in or between the laminations, encouraging delamination.
Also, the direct impact of a keel forward face with hard turf or ground surfaces during a golf swing tends to slow down the swing and result in less forward driving impact to the golf ball. This is true for golf irons as well as woods, and also for metal shell wood and iron leads.